Have you ever wondered about where the ingredients in your favourite skincare products have actually come from? At Evolve we love to know the journey of our products, and in some cases our founder Laura has even travelled across the world to find out more!
Something really important to us is working with ethical ingredients companies to source effective ingredients that not only work great, but that could potentially also help to make a positive difference to local communities and ecosystems.
This means that we know the journey of an ingredient from where it is first grown, to how it ends up in your favourite skincare product. Here are some of our favourite stories of our ingredients!
Our Sustainable Cacay Oil
We source our Cacay Oil from Kahai, a company in South America who are the largest producers of Cacay Oil. Kahai looks at various concerns from social and economic to environmental when it comes to producing and selling Cacay Oil.
Reforestation
Cacay trees have been known to be deforested for firewood, but in order to further prevent this deforestation from happening, Kahai have stepped in and planted tree nurseries. By 2018, 5,000 hectares of land (imagine 6,000 football pitches!) has been reforested with cacay trees, and the work is still continuing. All of the land that Kahai are replanting used to predominantly consist of cacay trees before deforestation occurred.
This allows Kahai to not only preserve the species itself and meet an increasing demand for Cacay Oil, but also create lots of amazing job opportunities and income for the local communities through harvesting and processing the nuts!
Zero Waste
Reducing waste is really important to us at Evolve, we are always trying to reduce the amount of waste we produce not only in our working lives but also in our personal lives. This not only means being conscious of our own actions but also what we work with when we are creating new products and looking for amazing natural ingredients.
When it comes to the cacay nut, every single part is used, not one little bit goes to waste. After the oil is pressed out, the peel is used for compost among the next cacay tree crop. The shells are used as cooking flour and anything else that is left can be used as food supplements due to its high levels of protein.
The oil itself is full of natural antioxidants and natural fatty acids which are great to use to help skin concerns such as ageing and dryness. Helping skin to feel more nourished and deliver Cacay Oil’s ‘youthful glow’, which is why it is gaining popularity so fast in the world of beauty and skincare. You can find it in our Superfood 360 Serum and our Multi Peptide 360 Moisture Cream.
Laura’s Journey To The Amazon
We work with an innovative Brazilian company who ethically source cosmetic ingredients from the Amazon and other Brazilian ecosystems. They benefit more than 2,500 families in 105 communities throughout Brazil, in addition to preserving the country’s native natural resources. Laura travelled to the rainforest to see first hand why this makes a positive difference.
“I flew to Manaus, the capital of the Amazonian state in Brazil, where I met a forestry professor who specialised in the conservation of rainforest plants and sustainable production of cosmetic raw materials. Together we travelled to Maues, a small town in the heart of the rainforest. There are no roads to Maues so we flew on a light plane, where we could see the drought that was then affecting the Amazon basin.
To reach the local community that we visited, we travelled in a small boat, passing sandbanks with alligators as we went. The village was very poor, with small huts on stilts. Villagers lived a subsistence lifestyle, clear-cutting forest and burning it to clear areas to grow manioc, a subsistence crop.
We talked to them about opportunities to harvest valuable ingredients from the trees to make it attractive to conserve them. The people we met were very excited about working with ethical producers who could create sustainable production schemes they could participate in.
We are committed to working with ethical ingredients companies to source effective ingredients that make a positive difference to local communities and ecosystems.”
What is the ingredient?
Our 3 Amazonian ingredients work in synergy to improve the health of blemish-prone skin, reducing the appearance of blemishes by an average of 42%, the appearance of blocked pores by 72% and oil production by 65%.
Copaiba is a powerful antibacterial and astringent that helps to balance the skin and encourage healing.
Andiroba possesses a unique combination of essential fatty acids and is known as a powerful anti-inflammatory.
Finally, Acai, with its deep purple berries, is one of the highest known sources of antioxidants. You can find this blend in our Rainforest Rescue Blemish Serum.
If you want to find out more about the amazing ingredients that we use in our organic skincare, then visit our A-Z of Skincare Ingredients now!
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